Metamorphosis I: Regression
by Flidais
Summary: When Alec takes one for Max, innocence is reborn. Alec/Max COMPLETE
1. Bad Plan

**Metamorphosis I: Regression**

Rating: R

Show: Dark Angel

Genre: Comedy/Action/Angst

Type: WIP/Series

Summary: When Alec takes one for Max, innocence is reborn.

Disclaimer: I don't own them.

Spoilers: At least through 'Exposure'

A/N: I really don't know where – or even if – this story fits into the canon.  By the end of this story, it may end up AU.  I'm pretty sure it will be AU by part two of this planned trilogy.  Basically, my plan is to ignore things I don't want to deal with and just make the story work on its own.  Wish me luck.

******** Chapter 1: Bad Plan 

"Oh, this is just great."

"Quiet."

"They're not here.  I told you this was a setup."

"Shut up, Alec!"

"But did you listen to me?  No.  I swear, it's like I'm not even here."

"I wish.  Now would you shut up?  I'm trying to listen."

Max pressed her ear to the bottom of the metal air shaft.  Even with her enhanced hearing she could just barely make out the voices of Ames White and his men echoing up from the ground of the hollow old warehouse three stories below.  The warehouse was supposed to contain several captured X-series awaiting transport, but, as far as Max and Alec had been able to determine, there were no transgenics on site.

"Where'd Logan get the intel from anyway?"

"The Informant Net."

"Figures."

Max lifted her head and craned it around to scowl at Alec.  "What's that supposed to mean?"

Alec rolled his eyes in exasperation.  "Did it ever occur to you, Max, that White might be aware that Eyes Only is a close, personal friend of yours?  And that maybe, just maybe, the conniving psychopath might feed false information to said self-righteous cyberjournalist in order to get his hands on you?"

Max just stared at him, the scowl on her face deepening.  She opened her mouth to deliver what was sure to be a scathing comeback, when a metallic scream pierced the air.  Max's eyes widened as the tight space shifted around them.  Alec simply raised an eyebrow and uttered one word.

"Fuck."

Their entire section of the air shaft plummeted toward the ground.

Alec pulled Max's body to his chest.  He had just enough time to slam back against the top of the tube.  The force of their combined weight added to gravity and Alec's transgenic strength ripped a hole in the metal.  They shot out in a tight ball of limbs.  As soon as they were clear of the cylinder, Max and Alec pushed off of one another.  With the agility that only cats possess, they flipped through the air to land on opposite sides of the warehouse.  

There was momentary chaos among the agents as they dodged falling debris.  Alec took out three of them before they even knew what was happening.  The others regained their wits and focused on taking him down.  Alec blurred from one opponent to another before they could fully close on him.  All his senses were heightened, his training and instincts took over.  Even with their guns, they couldn't gain the upper hand.  After all, Alec was a weapon.

Though his concentration was taken up by the battle, he was aware of what Max might think of his actions, of causes and consequences.  He disarmed and disabled rather than killed.  From the sounds White's men were making on Max's side of the building, he could tell that his partner in crime was faring just as well.  When the threat immediately surrounding him had been neutralized, giving him a moment to catch his breath, Alec turned to see how Max was coming along.  

She was a vision.  Max had landed on a platform that stood against a wall of windows a good eight feet above the ground level.  The rising sun shone through another set of windows behind Alec, its golden rays piercing the gloom of the warehouse to illuminate Max and her opponents like a spotlight.  Max was all exquisite grace and speed, punching and kicking, turning and flipping.  Her dark hair reflected the light, swinging around her like a moving halo of liquid bronze.  She knocked one burly man into two of his fellows.  The three fell like dominos and Max turned to face the next aggressor.

"Beautiful," Alec whispered.  He began making his way toward her when he noticed that the agents' firearms were firmly holstered.

_Why aren't they using their guns?  And where the hell is White?_

As if Alec's thought had summoned him, Special Agent Ames White, the bane of transgenic existence, appeared on the ground floor just to the left of the platform.  What happened next took less than thirty seconds.  To Alec it felt like an eternity in slow motion.  Alec was already blurring toward Max when he saw the black, high-powered rifle in the White's hand.  Alec was closer to Max than he was to White, but he still wasn't sure he'd reach her in time.  Max was oblivious to everything except the four agents whose asses she was kicking at that moment.  

Just as Alec reached the bottom of the steel columns supporting the platform, White raised the rifle and aimed at Max through the milling agents still surrounding her.  Alec didn't break his stride, did not stop nor hesitate.  One moment his feet were on the ground and the next he was airborne as he sprang up to the platform.  White was still aiming, but slow and steady could kill Max.  

Alec blurred once more, jumping over fallen bodies and tossing men aside in his effort to get to her before White's bullet did.  When reached a surprised Max he did more than shove her aside.  Alec lifted a her with little effort and threw her at the bank of tall windows lining the platform.  She went through the glass with a resounding crash and a startled yell.

He was just in time.  Half a second later, White's shot found a target.  A stinging pressure pierced Alec through his sweater to the flesh just below his collarbone. The force of it slammed him off his feet and backwards out the window.

Max and Alec plunged toward the dark water of the lake that bordered the warehouse. Shards of glass and gunfire rained down after them. They breached the waves in controlled dives and swam straight down into the shadowy depths.  Alec's chest burned like hell, and the fire was rapidly spreading.  He tried to concentrate on following Max's lead.  
They surfaced just beneath the warehouse's old dock.  The planks above them were thick and the early morning shadows hid them well.  The wood creaked in protest as Agent White and his men thundered across it.  

White's menacing voice sounded out, "I want them found.  Do you understand me?  I want 452 brought to me unharmed."

"What about the other one, sir?"

"Bring him as well."

"Dead or alive?"

White rolled his eyes.  "No difference.  I'm sure the labs would be interested in any effects on that normal freak's system either way."  
Alec blinked as the world's edges became fuzzy. When blinking didn't work, he shook his head to clear it. That just made the world tilt on its side and spin. He tried to focus on Max treading water in front of him, her face lifted toward the dock above. He concentrated on moving his arm from his   
side toward her. It felt like he was forcing his way through rubber cement instead of water.  
He opened his mouth to call to her, but no more than a breathy whisper emerged.  "Max…"  

His eyes rolled to the back of his head and he sank into the water.

**TBC**


	2. Mother May I?

**Chapter 2:** **Mother May I**

Max looked at Alec just in time to see his head slide beneath the dark water of the lake.  She made a frantic grab for him and scarcely managed to catch one of his hands.  With her arm hooked around one of the beams supporting the dock, she pulled Alec to her, chest to chest.  His head fell limply forward to her shoulder.  

It was difficult for Max to hold him up.  She didn't have the best one-armed grip on him and the lake seemed determined to swallow him into its depths.  She swung him around until his back was against the pillar to which she was anchored.  Then she pressed length of her body against his to try and support him better.  To say she was anxious about their current situation would be a vast understatement.  Transgenics just didn't faint.  

White's voice rang out with more shouted orders to his men.  Max held Alec tighter.  His breathing was shallow and, despite the cold water lapping around them, his cheek was like a heated brand where it rested against her neck.  Max began to panic.  She couldn't examine him there under the docks, especially not with White standing above their heads.  She had to get him to land.  

Her already sharpened eyesight stretched to its fullest as she searched the shore for some sort of refuge.  _There!_  An outcropping of large rocks jutted out into the water on the western side of the lake not too far from the expanse of woods where they'd stashed her Ninja.  It looked like the safest place for them to go.  She judged the distance to be mile, give or take.   

_No so bad, really, _Max scoffed.  _ Only 5,280 feet.  Just 1,609.344 meters.  Should only take four minutes.  Yeah, right.  _

Of course, if she were to pull Alec across the surface of the lake, they'd be sitting ducks.  Max could hold her breath for almost five minutes, and she was pretty sure that Alec could match that under normal circumstances.  Of course, the circumstances weren't exactly normal.  Of course, having to tow an unconscious Alec through deep water could – would -- add considerable seconds to their time.

The familiar click and pop sound of guns being loaded decided her.  With one hand she pushed Alec's head back and tilted his chin down.  Taking a deep breath first, she blew hard into his mouth.  His lips were soft on hers.  She felt his chest rise with the intake of her air and immediately clapped her hand over his mouth and nose.  Then she turned him around, filled her lungs, and dove downward.  

Max headed straight down until she was sure that their presence wouldn't create any splashing on the surface, then turned and swam as fast as she could toward the rocks.  She had never pushed herself so hard before.  She ignored the aching in her legs, concentrating on their destination and her hold on the man beneath her.  Halfway across the lake, Alec began convulsing.  The onset was so sudden and strong that Max lost her grip on him for a moment.  

_No, no, no, no!_

If she could've screamed the words she would have as Alec twisted out of her arms and gulped in a lungful of water.  Max snatched at the collar of his leather jacket and swam on.  She couldn't help him until she got him out of the damn lake.  His thrashing body and the pounding of her heart in her chest made her task all the more difficult.      

By the time she reached the rocks, her lungs were burning and Alec had stopped moving.  Max surfaced, gasping for new air, on a side of the rocks yet untouched by the morning sun.  She hauled herself onto the flat rocks, pulling Alec behind her.  Ignoring her own lightheadedness and the fear that was threatening to paralyze her, Max turned Alec over and checked his pulse with two fingers of one gloved hand.  Amazingly, there was a pulse – weak yes, but his heart was still beating.  She immediately straddled him and began pounding on his chest.  Finally, wracking coughs tore through Alec, lifting his upper body from the cold slate.  The water bubbled out of his mouth, but he remained unconscious.  Max bowed her head and almost sobbed with relief.  She took a moment to calm herself and then looked back up at Alec.

 "Guess it takes more than a little dip in a lake to kill one of us, huh?"

As her hands dropped from his chest, her index finger caught in the hole in Alec's sweater.  She moved his jacket aside and peered down for a better look, but still couldn't tell what caused the hole.  It couldn't have been a bullet wound – there wasn't any blood.  Only one way to find out for sure.  Max shrugged, grabbed the collar of his sweater with both hands, and pulled.  The sopping sweater gave with a wet tearing sound to reveal an expanse of golden, unblemished skin.  Unblemished, that is except for the small, dart-like object embedded in the left side of his chest.

_The hell?_  Max wrapped her leather covered fingers around the sparse fletching and yanked.  It released with a little pop.  The puncture in Alec's chest began to close immediately, thanks to healing powers of genetic engineering.  Max examined the dart.  It looked like some sort of tranquilizer.  

Must have been some kinda strong to knock one of us out.

She placed it carefully in her jacket pocket and looked around them for the first time.  They couldn't stay on the rocks.  Any moment, the surrounding forest would be crawling with White's men.  Max walked around to stand at Alec's head.  She leaned down and wrapped her arms around his chest, hoisting him up.  The heels of his wet boots made a hissing sound on the rocks as Max pulled him backwards toward the tree line.  

Max picked her way carefully through the trees, watching to make sure Alec's feet and calves didn't catch on any of the treacherous roots or protruding rocks.  She had just finished maneuvering them around a large, fallen oak when she heard what sounded like a whimper.  Setting him back against a tree, she kneeled in front of him.

"Alec?"  Another whimper.  She slapped him lightly across one cheek.  "Alec."  His hazel eyes snapped open.

"Huh?"

"Finally," she huffed to cover her relief.  "I was getting sick of lugging your ass around."

Alec didn't respond.  His eyes were slightly cloudy.  She snapped her fingers in his face a couple of times.  The haze seemed to lift and he focused on her face.

"W-where are we?"  His voice was shaky and unsure.

"In the woods, across the lake from White's warehouse."  He looked puzzled by her answer.  His head tilted to the side and he blinked at her a few times.

"Why are y-you and the t-trees spinning?"

"You're dizzy?"  He managed two nods before a look of extreme queasiness came over his face.  "Don't do that."

"'Kay."

"What else?"

"Huh?"

"Symptoms, Alec.  How else are you feeling?

"C-cold and wet-t."  

"That'd be from the little morning swim we took."  His gaze took in her soaked clothing and then moved down to his own.  His hand went to his bare chest.  Max averted her eyes.

"Sorry about the sweater."  She shrugged.  "Had to be done."  In the distance, still far off but too close for comfort, came sounds of White's men in pursuit.  "Come on.  We've gotta blaze."  She pulled Alec to his feet.  He stumbled almost immediately, one hand going to his forehead.

"Head hurts."

"Can you walk if I help?"  Alec nodded again, this time turning a little green.  "Didn't I say don't do that?"

"Yes."

"Then don't do it."

"Okay."  Max rolled her eyes and lifted his arm around her shoulder.  Together they moved as quickly as he could manage through the trees to the cave where the Ninja was hidden.  The trip seemed to take a lot out of Alec.  He was pale and trembling by the time Max pushed her baby out of its foliage camouflage.  She helped him onto the bike and then sat herself in front of him.  

Turning around to face him, she asked, "Can you hold on to me?"

He started to nod, but then stopped.  "I think so."  She turned away and felt his arms lock around her waist as she revved the engine.

"Good."  They took off toward the city.

*****

Max headed straight for Alec's apartment.  She turned off the engine when they arrived and heard a light snoring coming from behind her.  Alec had fallen asleep with his head resting just below her neck.  She laid a hand on one of the arms wrapped around her waist and shook.

"Alec, wake up."  He lifted his head right away.  

"I'm awake," he protested.  She turned her head to find him surreptitiously wiping at his mouth.

She practically shouted, "Did you drool on me?"  

He hid his hand behind his back, eyes wide with feigned innocence.  "No."  

"Ugh!"  She slapped him in the shoulder and pushed at him.  "Get the hell off me!  Get off!!"  He stood and shoved his hands in his pockets.  "You are so buying me a new jacket."

Alec squinted and looked around.  "Why are we here?"

Glancing at him, Max lifted the seat on her motorcycle and removed a change of clothes from the hidden compartment.  "I don't know about you, but I'd like to change into something dry before we go to work."

"Oh."

He was oddly quiet as he followed her up to his place.  They reached the door and Max turned to him expectantly.  He stared blankly back.  She gestured at the doorknob with one hand and rested the other on her hip.

"Keys, Alec."

"Huh?"

"Keys…to the door.  You know, so we can, like, get inside?"

"I have them?"

"That _would_ make sense, since it _is_ your apartment."

"Oh."  He searched all his pockets before finding them tucked away inside his jacket.  With a small smile he held them out to Max.  Rolling her eyes, she snatched them up and unlocked the door.  Following her inside, Alec wandered around the living room, looking around shyly.  You'd think he'd never been there before.  Max stared at him for a minute.

"Hey?"  Alec glanced at her and she continued, "Are you still feeling dizzy?"

He turned his head from side to side before answering.  "Not so much."  

"Huh.  Well then," she jerked a thumb in the direction of his bedroom, "go get changed."  He stared down the hallway before shuffling his feet toward his room.  Max looked after him for a moment, then shrugged and headed for the bathroom to take her own advice.  

By the time Alec emerged from his room, Max was already dressed and standing in the kitchen making coffee.  She nodded at the bubbling percolator.

"You want some?"

"Ew."  He shook his head.  "Yuck."

Max raised an eyebrow at that and peered at him more closely.  His black t-shirt was on inside out and backwards, his socks were mismatched, and…

"Alec."

"Yeah?"  

"Your shoes are on the wrong feet."  

He plopped down on the floor and set about unlacing one boot.  Max saw that he was having some difficulty and walked to stand over him.

"And your shirt is on wrong."  Alec immediately stopped tugging on his laces and started pulling up his shirt.  He managed to get his arms and head tangled and twisted in the cloth.

"Maxie, I'm stuck."  She sighed and kneeled down in front of him, yanking off the offending article.  "Ow."  Ignoring him, Max started righting the shirt.

"Fix your shoes."  He pulled one off and stated on the next.

"Maxie?"

"Yeah?"

"Do I have to got to work?  I don't feel so good."  Startled, Max looked up at him.  He was pleading – no, he was whining.  Alec was whining.  Max dropped the shirt and took off her glove, resting her palm against his forehead.  His skin was cool and dry under her hand.  Well, he might not have been fevered, but his behavior was decidedly un-Alec-like.  He stopped fussing with his laces and met her worried brown eyes.  His brow furrowed before he spoke again.  

"And I think I'm gonna throw up."  

Max used all her transgenic speed to grab a wastebasket and shove his head in before he vomited all over them.  As he retched beside her, she shook her head.  

"This can't be good."

*****

Alec stuck to Max's side like a burr.  She glanced at him as they walked down the hall of Harbor Lights Hospital.  His pupils were fully dilated and shifting rapidly as if he were looking for an escape route.  He literally jumped when an orderly walked past rolling a gurney.  Max took a firm hold on the sleeve of his jean jacket and led him to the nurses' station.

"We're looking for Dr. Shankar," she said to a pretty blond nurse.  "She's expecting us."  The nurse nodded and picked up the phone, eyeing Alec appreciatively.  He shied away from her, hiding behind Max.

"Maxie, we don't have to be here.  I feel better.  Really."

"I'll believe that after Dr. Shankar takes a look at you."

When the diminutive doctor arrived a few minutes, she led them to a large private room.  Max recounted that morning's events.

"Then he took some sort of dart in the chest.  I think it was meant for me."  She shrugged and pulled the thing out of her jacket pocket.  "At first I thought it was a tranquilizer, but now I'm not so sure."  Shankar put on a surgical glove and took it from her, examining it closely.

"You said he's had some physical symptoms?"

"Yeah, headache, dizziness, nausea.  Though, they seemed to stop after his last horking session by the side of the road.  But, he's acting odd."  She glanced at Alec out of the corner of her eye.  He was sitting huddled on the examination table.  "Well, odder than usual."

Shankar looked from the dart to Alec and back again.  "Huh," she said.  "Well, I'd better run some tests on whatever is in this along with blood samples from you both.  Discreetly, of course.  Hopefully, that will yield some answers."  She walked over to a metal table set against one wall.  After sealing the dart in an individual biohazard container, she picked up a pair of syringes with attached vials and turned back to them.

Alec eyed the materials.  "What's that?" His voice was pitched higher than normal.  "That's not a needle, is it?"  He jumped off the examination table and blurred to the other side of the room.  Max watched his reaction in shock.  Where was the annoying, cocky super-soldier Max thought she knew so well?

Shankar just stared at him curiously before replying.  She directed her words to both transgenics.  "It's standard procedure"  

Alec shook his head forcefully.  "No way!"  Shankar looked to Max for help.  The female X5 uncrossed her arms and took a step toward Alec.

He saw her and backed into a corner.  "Uh-uh!"  He continued to shake his head as he announced, "Needles suck."  Then he made a break for the door.   Max got there first and held her arms up to bar his way.  

"Alec!"  He jumped.  She let out an exasperated sigh and attempted to speak calmly.  "You have to let Dr. Shankar take some blood, ok.  You don't want to keep getting dizzy and passing out, do you?"

"No, but –"

"Well then, you have to let Dr. Shankar take some blood.  She's going to take mine too.  Okay?"  At the fear that remained in Alec's eyes as he stared back at the needle, Max continued.  "She'll be really fast."

Alec looked back at her.  "You promise?"

"I promise."  To her surprise, he reached out and took her hand.

"Okay."  The naked trust in his hazel eyes when he looked into hers made Max's heart clench with some unnamed emotion.  She turned and led him toward the doctor.  Halfway back to the table, Alec stopped again.  

"But just the needle, right Max?  No lasers?"  The quaver of panic in his voice made Max's breath catch in her throat.

"No Alec," she whispered.  "No lasers."  She gave his hand a quick squeeze and gently pulled him the rest of the way to the table.  "Never again."


	3. Snips & Snails & Puppy Dog Tails

A/N: Hey guys.  Sorry about the long delay in updating.  Work took over my life and I barely had time to sleep for two weeks, let alone write fanfic.  Thanks for all the reviews. :)  I'm glad you're all enjoying the story.  I'm having great fun writing it!  I hope you like this chapter. ~Fli Chapter 3: Snips & Snails & Puppy Dog Tails 

"Alec!"  

Max's voice rang loud from outside just as the X5 rogue in question wheeled his bicycle at top speed down the ramp inside Jam Pony.  He skidded to a halt beside the lockers and dismounted, laughing wildly.

"I beat you!"  

He raised his arms above his head and bounced around like that boxer – what was his name?  Blocky? – did in that movie.  Sketchy appeared from behind the lockers and Alec paused in his victory dance.  He jabbed a thumb at his chest and grinned like the Cheshire cat.  "Sketchy!  I beat Maxie!  And Dr. Shankar gave me a lollipop!"

"Uh, yeah Alec.  That's great."  As Alec continued to smile triumphantly, Sketchy squinted at him.  "Man, are you feeling alright?"  

Before Alec could respond, Max arrived.  "The answer is no."

"Not 'no'.  Yes,"  Alec declared.  "The answer is yes.  I feel fine."  He held up his hands and counted off.  "No more dizzies, no more blackouts, no more horking, _and_ I beat you here."  At that last comment, Max scowled up at him.  He stared back at her for a moment with a thoughtful tilt to his head, the smile dropping from his face.  "Don't worry Maxie," he said sincerely.  "Next time I'll let you win again."  

Max's scowl turned into a look of puzzlement.  _What does that mean?_, she wondered.  She wasn't sure how to respond to his words.  They lacked his usual mocking sarcasm.  And his good-intentioned-little-boy gaze left her dumbfounded.  Falling back on her tried and true reaction d'Bitch occurred to her just when a nasal voice shouted in her ear.

"Hey!  Bip, bip, bip!"  Normal shouldered Sketchy aside and glared at Max.  "Since your roommate has the day off, Missy Miss, there's extra work for everyone."  He shoved packages at each of them in turn.  "I don't pay you cretins to socialize and storks don't deliver packages!  Now, move!"  

Sketchy sighed, Max rolled her eyes, but Alec just stared at their bespectacled boss.  He leaned in until there were only three inches between his face and Normal's.  Normal cleared his throat and stared back.

"Rock Star?"

"You know what, Normal?"

"What Alec?"  A bit breathless, he felt like he was drowning in Alec's eyes.  The sensation was like warm liquid and started below the belt.  He waited, paralyzed for Alec's next words.

"You have the hugest booger I have ever seen hanging out of your nose."  Normal leaned back, blinking rapidly.  Alec lifted a hand and pointed.  "It's right there."  

Max jerked him back before he could actually touch anything, dragging him away.  "Alright, that's it.  Hot run."

******

While they rode through the suburbs of Seattle, Max received a call on Alec's cell phone from Dr. Shankar.  All the doctor could be absolutely sure about was that the dart did not contain any sort of tranquilizer.  It would take more time to determine exactly what the chemical was doing to Alec's mind…and what it was supposed to have done to Max.  She would be conferring with Dr. Carr on the results of the tests and any predictions of side effects and duration.

Max glanced to where Alec rode beside her, oblivious to her worried musings.  Shankar had been able to provide Max with a few vague assurances that he'd already purged most of the toxins created by whatever was in the dart.  Physically, he was perfectly healthy.  And he did seem to be feeling much better.  He chattered away non-stop.  Something that was actually pretty normal for the guy.  Max could almost pretend it was a normal day, a normal run, a normal Alec.  Almost.  

Usually Alec's endless chatter covered one or more of his favorite topics: money, sex, transgenics…himself.  This time, however, he was all over the place.  He didn't seem able to focus on any one subject.  

"You know sometimes Normal smells funny.  Kinda like Windex or old ladies.  Oh, look at that dog Maxie.  I always wanted a puppy.  One with big floppy ears and long legs that run fast so that we could play fetch faster'n anyone else.  And he'd be my best friend.  But I guess Joshua is kinda like that, except for the whole fetching thing.  And he doesn't really run much.  But he's bigger than any dog I ever saw and he talks and he laughs at my jokes.  So I guess that he's a better friend.  Yeah, he's definitely better than any stupid old regular dog." He stopped to take a breath.  "Are we there yet?"

"For the fifty-seventh time, no."

Alec nodded before continuing his babble.  "There are a lot of clouds in the sky today.  If you look at them long enough they make cool pictures.  Like that one.  It looks kinda like a watermelon…or Logan's head."  

Max looked at him sharply but was saved from answering by Alec pointing to their left.  "Oh, look at that fire engine Max.  I can make a noise like a fire engine! Wanna hear?"

"Not really."

Alec made a face and stuck his tongue out at her.  "Why are you so mean?"

"I'm only mean to annoying people," she stated matter-of-factly.  Alec stared at her for a moment, before scrunching up his nose in offense.

"Hey!"

"We're here."  Max stopped her bike next to a stone fence surrounding a house with a beautifully tended garden.  "This looks like the sort of place that gives decent tips."  She got off her bike and looked over to Alec.  He stood beside her rubbing his nose vigorously.  She raised one perfectly arched eyebrow at him.

"Itchy," he said by way of explanation.  Grabbing the package that they needed from his bag, he shoved it at her with a smile.  "Here."

She took the package from him and gave him a stern look.  "Stay behind me.  Don't speak.  If you blow my tip, you'll regret it.  Got it?"  At Alec's solemn nod, she turned on her heel and marched up the steps to the mid-upper income, single-family home.  A blonde woman with a modest string of pearls and well-manicured hands answered the door.

Max put on a cheery smile.  "Good morning, ma'am.  I have a delivery for you from Jam Pony."  Holding out her clipboard and pen, Max said, "Sign here, please."  

The woman signed and handed Max the clipboard.  "If you'll just wait here one moment, I'll get your tip."

Max smiled wider and gushed, "Oh, thank you very much."  The smile dropped from her face as the woman walked back into the house.  Her mind returned to Alec and his odd, child-like behavior.  At first she'd thought that the drug had caused some sort of amnesia in him, but after his initial disorientation it seemed less like he'd forgotten things and more like he was seeing everything from a different perspective.  His reactions reminded her of the way Joshua had been when they'd escaped Manticore – innocent, child-like.  

The realization hit Max like an iron wrecking ball.  She stared harder into space, biting her lip with rapidly increasing worry.  She didn't think she could live her life watching over not one but two naïve souls.  Joshua at least knew how to hide.  He'd spent most of his life avoiding detection in the basement at Manticore.  Plus, with the way he looked, Max didn't have that hard of a time convincing him that staying inside and out of sight was the best thing to do.  But, Alec looked just like a normal.  What would happen if he were to wander out into the big, bad, post-pulse world without anyone to look after him?  No doubt White would be able to capture him in no time at all.  The thought twisted Max's stomach in knots.

Her worried musings were interrupted by an insistent tapping on her shoulder.  She turned around to find Alec smiling shyly and holding out two fistfuls of freshly-picked flowers.  The lilies, roses, jonquils, tulips and petunias were a riot of color in his brown hands.  Dirt still clung to the roots of several stems.  Max's stared drop-jawed.  

"I saw these and they smelled good.  And I just thought 'Maxie'll like some of those', 'cause, you know, all girls like flowers.  And these are all bright and yellow and pink and…"  He shrugged and asked, "Do you like them?  They're kinda pretty, right?  Like you."

Max was in shock.  Her mouth opened and closed a few times, but no words came out.  Alec smiled more confidently and thrust the fragrant bouquets toward his speechless companion.  She took hold of the colorful arrangements just as an outraged gasp sounded behind her.  The blonde woman had arrived and was standing in her doorway on the verge of a serious conniption. 

"Oh!  My!  God!"  Her shrill voice cut through the silence.  "What have you done to my beautiful garden?"

Alec shrugged in the face of her fit.  "A present for Maxie."

"A present?  A present?!" She sputtered for a moment.  "They're not yours to give!"

Alec pre-empted her tirade with a righteous yell, "You should share!"

"I'm not sharing my prize breeds with the likes of you…you…you degenerate street urchins!"

"Well then, finders keepers losers weepers."  He stuck out his tongue.  Max stepped between the two and attempted to diffuse the situation.  She hid the flowers behind her back.

"He's sorry, really."

"No, I'm not!"  Alec shouted from behind her.  "Maxie, tell her she should share."

Max whipped her head around to look at the embodiment of righteous indignation towering just behind her.  "Alec, you're not helping!"

"But Max, they're not hers anymore."  His hazel eyes gazed imploringly at her.  "I picked them for you."  She sighed in the face of his trembling pout.

"Alec, I can't keep them."

"Why?"

"Because it's wrong."

"Why?"

"Because it's stealing."

"But, you said stealing from bad guys is okay.  And she," Alec pointed an accusing finger at the woman, "is really, _really_ mean."

"Yes Alec, she is mean."  The woman started to protest.  Max silenced her with an icy look before continuing.  "But, she's not a bad guy.  She's a client.  Understand?"

"No."  Max sighed again.  It was no use trying to explain the blonde's behavior to Alec in his present mental state.  She settled for trying to end the discussion.

"Well, you'll understand when you're…older.  Now," she put the flowers back in his hands, "give the flowers back and apologize."  Eyes squinting with sullen resignation and lips twitching with resentment, Alec took the bunches from Max and handed them to the blonde.  

"I apologize."  His words were far from heartfelt.

The woman grabbed the flowers and held them to her chest.  "I can tell you your apology is certainly not accepted.  You should be ashamed of yourself!  I will see you both fired!"

Max put a restraining hand on Alec's arm before he could answer the woman's vindictive bitterness.

"Alec, why don't you go back to the bikes and let me take care of this."  He was glaring at the woman while blowing deep, angry breaths.  He didn't verbally retaliate, but he didn't respond to Max either.  She could feel the muscles of his arm tensing.  "Alec?"  

Finally he tore his fuming gaze from the nasty woman and looked down at Max.  He was hurt.  She could see it deep in his eyes.  She tried not to think about how much his feelings affected her.

She spoke at a level that only another transgenic would be able to hear, "Wait for me, okay?"  

As he stared down into her face, his breathing calmed and his body relaxed beneath her touch.  "Fine," he said in a tone matching hers.  He locked eyes with the woman over Max's shoulder and raised his voice.  "But, mean people suck."  With that, he stomped down the porch to the bikes.

Yet, the woman was not satisfied with his absence.  She continued to yell at his retreating back.  "Uncivilized cretin!"  She hugged the flowers closer.  "The Pulse would have done a good thing if it had wiped out your kind along with everything else!"  

Max faced the woman once again, unfamiliar but fierce feelings of protectiveness welling up inside her.  "He's right, you really do suck.  That was unnecessarily harsh, lady.  He's just a little boy."

"He's a grown man!"

Max huffed and flipped her hair.  "Whatever."  She stepped forward until they were nose to nose with only the flowers separating them.  The woman's eyes widened.  "But if you say one more thing to him, I'm breaking both your arms.  I think that might make gardening a little less fun.  Understand?"  The blonde nodded.  "Say 'I understand.'"

"I," she swallowed, "I understand."  Max smiled and patted her on the cheek, making her jump.

"Good."  Max turned on her heel and stomped down the steps without a backward glance.  "You can bill Jam Pony, bitch."

When she arrived back at the bikes, she found Alec sitting on his with his head bowed.  He was fidgeting with his riding gloves and grumbling to himself.  Max pulled something from beneath her jacket and placed it under his nose.  It was the prettiest flower from her bouquet.  A large, long-stemmed white iris with the lightest blue-violet coloring the edges of its petals, its fragrance filled the air around them.  Alec's head snapped up in surprise.

"Put this in my bag, will you.  Don't crush it."  He took the flower from her hand and did so.  She mounted her bike and turned to him.  "Ready?"

He shook his head with a dumbfounded expression on his face.  "Max, you said we only steal from bad guys."

Max shrugged and started pedaling.  "Like you said, she should share."

Alec followed after her with a huge grin on his face.

*******

Their next stop took them to a neighborhood on the very edges of the city.  The houses were bordered by a huge park that included a playground for small children and a soccer field.  Kids were running everywhere, their laughter echoing on the breeze.  Alec looked at the park with longing, excitement practically bubbling out of him.  He pulled his bike up next to where Max sat rummaging through her bag and tugged on her jacket sleeve.

"Maxie, I wanna play."  

She shook her head and answered him distractedly.  "No, Alec.  It's not time to play.  It's time to work."  She didn't notice Alec's crestfallen look as she continued searching her bag.  

"You sound like Logan."

Max ignored him.  "Where the hell did I put the clipboard."  Alec, ever helpful, looked in his own bag.  

"I've got it," he cried triumphantly, pulling the item out.  Max reached for it and the proverbial light bulb seemed to go off above Alec's head.  He sprang off his bike and away from her, brandishing the board with attached papers above his head.

"Alec, wha—"

"I've got your clipboard! Na-na-nah boo-boo!"  He ran to the field, screaming taunts at the top of his lungs.  

"Alec!  Give that back!"

"You gotta catch me first!" With that, Alec blurred across the field.

Max took off after him.  "Alec!  Alec, I'm not playing with you!  Give it back now!"  Alec's only response was to run faster and laugh harder.  "Boy, when I catch you, I am so gonna kick your ass!"

Alec yelled over his shoulder in a sing-song voice, "Oh!  Maxie said a bad word!"  He reached the edge of the field and blurred into the trees beyond.  Max followed behind him, giving a good chase, but never quite catching up to him.  The forest beyond was rife with fallen trees and a series of hills, large and small.  It could have given some of Manitcore's obstacle courses stiff competition.  

The run hardly elevated the transgenics' pulses.  They weren't even winded, but the brisk fall air lent a rosy glow to their cheeks.  The wind sent Max's hair streaming out behind her and whipped at their clothes as it carried the sound of Alec's laughter.  As pissed off as Max was, there was still a seed of exhilaration growing inside her as she chased Alec.  Despite herself, she felt her generous lips turn up in a small smile.  The purest laughter almost escaped her lips before she slammed it down and replaced the smile with her usual scowl.  

There was a ten foot chain link fence cutting through the forest in front of them.  Alec cleared it, landing with barely a sound on the other side.  As Max jumped the fence, Alec was running down a shallow hill to the road that marked the edge of the woods.  He was halfway across the asphalt when he turned to yell another taunt at Max.  

"Come on slow-poke!"  

He didn't notice the truck flying at him with unnecessary velocity, but she did.  Max picked up a burst of speed that she didn't even know she had in her and took a running leap toward Alec.  Her body slammed into his a mere second before the truck was on him, her momentum and weight carrying them in a ball of limbs across the road to its grassy shoulder.  Max sprang to her feet, lifting Alec with her.

"Alec?  Alec, are you hurt?"  She ran her hands over his body while he simply stared at her with eyes as wide as saucers.  Max took a few moments to make sure that he was not injured.  She discovered that he didn't have a scratch on him.  His heartbeat was fast for an X-5, but that was probably due to fear.  

"I'm sorry I forgot to let you win again," Alec whispered.  Max ignored his words and the fact that her own heart was beating much faster than normal.  She grabbed him by the shoulders and shook hard.

"Don't you ever do that again!  Ever!"  She smacked a hand upside his head.  "Don't you know that you're supposed to look both ways?"  Alec nodded at her and opened his mouth as if to speak.  Max cut him off, "I don't want to hear it!  If you ever – _ever_ – do that to me again, I will strangle you with my bare hands _and_ kick your scrawny ass!"  She whipped around and wrenched him down the long road toward their bikes.

**TBC**


	4. The Babysitter

Chapter 4: The Babysitter 

Original Cindy did a double take when the door to her apartment slammed open and in marched a dirty and disheveled Max dragging an equally messy Alec by one sleeve of his jean jacket.  Neither looked too worse for wear, but Max had a face like a storm cloud and Alec didn't look all that happy himself.  He was protesting as Max led him into the living room.

"Maxie," he whined, "you don't have to pull so hard."  

"Quiet Alec!"  She shoved him down onto the couch and pointed a stern finger at him.  "Stay."

"Meanie," he muttered under his breath.  Max chose to be the bigger…transgenic and not respond to Alec's last comment.  

OC finally found her voice.  "What happened to y'all?"

Max held up a hand as she headed toward her bedroom.  "Don't ask."

As the bedroom door slammed shut OC turned her attention back to the hazel eyed transgenic sulking on the couch.  "Sugah, you feelin' aight?  You keep pouting like that you're gonna be trippin' over your lip."

Alec turned his pitiful gaze on her and then took a deep breath.  "Max yelled at me.  But I didn't see the truck coming.  It wasn't my fault!  Well…maybe it was because I should have looked both ways, but she didn't have to smack me!  And then she dragged me all the way to our bikes and made me get on.  We didn't deliver any more packages at all.  I told her that I was hungry, but she wouldn't stop.  She said we had to come straight here because she couldn't take it anymore.  I'm not sure what it is, but she seemed pretty mad about it.  So, now we're here.  And I'm still hungry."  He took another breath.  "Can I eat now?"

OC's eyes bulged and she took two backward steps away from what she thought was a transgenic on speed before yelling out to her roommate.  "Max!"

Max was in the middle of changing into clean clothes for the third time that day when OC burst into her room.  The pretty, toffee-skinned girl had one hand on her hip while the other gesticulated wildly toward the living room.

"What the hell is goin' on wit' yo' boy?"

"He's not my boy…although he is more boy than ever.  As for what's going on with him, it's nothing but the usual whacked out craziness that passes for my everyday messed up life."  

"Would you quit comin' with the cryptic and bring the real."  OC crossed her arms over her chest.

"Alec's been dosed with a drug that turned him into a little boy.  Sort of."  

"For real?"

Max sighed and pulled on her jacket.  "For really real.  Taking him on runs this morning was a disaster.  He got himself into even more trouble than usual, so of course I had to pull his butt out of the fire…again."  She threw her hands up.  "I just can't take it anymore."

OC arched an eyebrow.  "So I heard."

"I hate to ask, but could you please watch him for me for a little while, Cindy?"

"Uh-uh.  Original Cindy don't know nothin' 'bout babysittin' no supersoldiers."

"Cindy, please!  I'll be back at lunch, I promise.  I've just gotta finish these runs."  She stepped forward and grabbed OC's shoulders.  "Please.  I'm begging you."

"Whoa, whoa, stop.  Don't you know beggin' ain't good for a girl's pores?"  Max's eyes widened and her hand flew to her cheek.

"Really?"

OC rolled her eyes and sighed.  "Fine.  I'll watch him.  But," she raised a finger, halting Max's celebration, "You'd better get back soon.  I've got my whole afternoon planned and it don't include keepin' an eye on no pretty boys."

She was enveloped in a strong hug from Max.  "Thanks Cindy."  Just as suddenly, Max released her and swiftly headed out of the room. 

"Max, I'm still hungry," Alec called out as she practically ran past him in her haste to leave the scene.

"OC's got you covered," she said over her shoulder as she breezed through the front door and was gone.

Alec bellowed at the top of his lungs, "Original Cindy!"  She came into the living room with her hands firmly planted on her hips.

"Pipe down boy!  This ain't no parade ground."  

He grinned up at her.  "Okay," he said in a hushed voice.  "Food please."  He nodded.  "Lots."  

She glanced from Alec to the door through which Max had escaped and back again.  With a hand over her eyes, she mumbled, "What have I gotten myself into?"

Alec looked at her excitedly.  "Do you have any pork rinds?"

*******

The sounds of cartoon Thundercats fighting rolled on in the background as OC stood in her bedroom humming an old song, the words long since forgotten. 

She had discovered that both the adult and child versions of Alec loved television.  But, while the Alec she was used to had a major jones for music videos, his younger self couldn't get enough of cartoons.  An hour earlier, she'd left him in front of the television with a bag of popcorn and strict instructions not to get any greasy kernels on the couch.  He'd been laughing so hard for so long she was sure that he was going to crack a rib.

Having the television as a babysitter had left her free to do other things.  Her fingers mechanically folded the pile of fresh laundry covering her bed while her mind contemplated the lovely assets of her latest lickety boo.  She was presently focusing on silky smooth, rosy flesh and the way her lover moaned in the silence of night.

Silence.

OC's head snapped up in alarm.  _He's been quiet for way too long._  

She peaked her head around her bedroom curtain.  The living room was empty.  Light was shining from beneath the closed bathroom door and Cindy could've sworn she heard a baritone giggle.  As she approached, several more giggles confirmed her suspicions.  She stopped and banged on the plywood door.

"Alec!  I'm coming in there so your lil' soldier best seek cover."  With that, she pushed her way in.  And was met with total chaos.  

There was water all over the floor.  Alec was standing in a particularly deep puddle at the base of the toilet bowl.  A neon blue glow emanated from the bowl itself, along with sounds of continuous sloshing and clanking.  Alec looked at her, his large hazel eyes sparkling with childlike delight.

"Look Cindy!"  He pointed at the cell phone submerged in the toilet.  "It swirls and swirls but it doesn't go down!"

"Boy!"  

The state of the bathroom – from the yards of unraveled toilet tissue covering the floor and stuck on the walls and mirror to the stealth aircraft, forts, and armada made of cotton swabs on display in the tub – made it glaringly clear just exactly what the man-child smiling down on her had been up to.  

"Have you lost your ever-loving lil' transgenic mind?"  His answering expression was full of absolute bewildered innocence – which only served to exasperate the woman further.  "That's it!  Original Cindy can't take it no more!"  She reached up, twisted Alec's ear in a death grip, and hauled him out of the bathroom by it.

"Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow!"  

"Lil' transgenic chile…workin' a girl's last damn nerve."  She dragged a chair over to face a corner of the living room and tossed Alec down onto it.

"Don't you move from that chair, or Original Cindy will put the smackdown on your little transgenic backside.  Understand?"

Alec lifted a hand to the assaulted ear and rubbed it gingerly.  "Yes, ma'am."

*******

Less than a half hour later, Max returned to find Alec sitting in the corner facing the wall.  OC was in the middle of hauling an oversized garbage bag stuffed full of sopping wet paper products out of the bathroom.  An old scarf held her curls back from her face and yellow plastic gloves covered her arms to the elbows.  She dropped the bag in the kitchen near where Max stood.

"Your boy thought it'd be fun to watch the bathroom explode," she offered by way of explanation.

Max sighed and her body seemed to droop with frustration. "He didn't."

"He most certainly did."  OC began removing the gloves.  "Needless to say, you owe a girl.  Big time."

Max put on a contrite expression.  "I'm buying at Crash tomorrow night."

"Humph.  Well, that might be a start."  OC glanced at Alec still sitting in the corner.  "But just a start," she mumbled.  

 "All right you big baby," Max called out to him.  "Let's go."

"But," he spoke to the wall, "OC told me not to move."

"Well, now it's time to move."  Max walked over and grabbed him around the arm, lifting him from the chair and hauling him toward the door.  

"Wait!"  He dug in his heels, exerting his considerable strength and pulling Max up short.  It was enough to shock Max into loosening her grip.  Alec shook off her hand and went over to where OC stood.  He hung his head, hands clasped behind his back, and looked at her through lowered lashes.  "I'm sorry, Original Cindy, for making a mess in the bathroom that you had to clean up."  

OC's eyes instantly softened.  She patted his cheek.  "It's all good, Baby Boo.  Original Cindy still loves you."  Alec surprised both women then by throwing his arms around her in a huge bear hug.

"I love you too, Cindy."  The words were muffled because his face was pressed into her shoulder, but both OC and Max heard them clearly.  Paralyzed by sheer astonishment, OC stood rigid in his arms for a moment before relaxing into his embrace and patting him awkwardly on the back.  She peered over his shoulder at her roommate.  What had started as an expression of shock on Max's face was soon chased away by amusement, which was followed closely by longing rising to jealousy, before her usual mask of nonchalant indifference locked all else away.

"Come on, Alec," she said in something of a forced tone.  "Say goodbye."  Alec did as he was told and then preceded her outside.  Max closed the door behind them, leaving a speculative OC standing alone in the kitchen.

**TBC**

**A/N:** Thanks again for the reviews guys!  Many of them had me laughing.  Sorry this chapter is so short.  It and the next chapter are just sort of cute little moments that I want Alec to have with some of my favorite characters before I lead him into the slightly more angst-y part of this story.  Basically – and this is for those of you who want to see 'normal' Alec again – this first story of my planned trilogy is the light, warm, fuzzy-fuzzies part that I must get out of my system before I move on to the darker two thirds of the series.  [insert maniacal laughter here.]  Smoochies!  ~Fli


	5. A Boy’s Best Friend

A/N: I've decided that this story takes place before "Hello, Goodbye."  Just makes my life a little easier!

Chapter 5: A Boy's Best Friend 

"Joshua!"  Alec burst into the rickety house, running through the hallway, up the stairs and then back down.  Max followed at a more sedate pace, fervently wishing the dart he'd been shot with in the early morning hours _had_ contained a tranquilizer. 

"Alec, no blurring in the house!"  

He slowed down and called out once more.  "Josh!"

"In kitchen, Alec," came the answering shout.  The X5s walked to the kitchen table where the big guy had just finished eating lunch.  Alec smiled and Max sighed.

"Big Fella, I need your help."

Alec interrupted her, pointing at a pot on the stove.  "Is that mac'n'cheese and little hot dogs?"  At Joshua's nod, Alec practically pounced on the stove with a shouted, "Yes!"  He grabbed the pot and began chowing down using a wooden stirring spatula.

Joshua grinned at him.  "Medium Fella like mac'n'cheese?"  Alec nodded hard in response while managing to stick the heaping spatula in his mouth.

"Alec!"

Alec cringed and spoke around a mouthful of food. "Wha?"

"Get a fork!"

He shrugged.  "Okay."

"And a bowl."

He shrugged again.  "'Kay."  

"Geez.  You'd think you were raised in a barn."  Alec was too busy shoveling food into his mouth to answer that, so Max turned to the other dog at the table.  "Joshua, can I talk to you in the living room for a minute?"

Joshua rose and followed Max across the hall.  When they were out of earshot, Max turned to her big friend with a desperate look on her face.  He tilted his head to the side.

"What's up Little Fella?"

"Listen, Alec is kind of…sick."

"He look and smell okay to Joshua."

"I know he does, Big Fella.  But he's sort of sick in his head.  The doctors think he'll be fine within twenty-four hours."  She sighed and glanced toward the kitchen where Alec sat scraping the last of the mac'n'cheese into his bowl.  "We just need to wait this bitch out until then."

"What can Joshua do to help?"  Max smiled at him for the first time.

"Could he stay here for a little while?  He could get into a lot of trouble outside."

Joshua nodded wisely.  "People afraid of what they don't understand."

She glanced toward the kitchen where Alec sat wolfing down his food.  She sighed again.  "Something like that."  

"Okay Little Fella.  Joshua take care of him.  We lay low together."  He put one large hand on Max's shoulder.  "Don't worry, Little Fella.  Alec be okay here."

She reached up and squeezed his hand.  "I know."  Joshua nodded.

"Anything special Medium Fella need?"

Max shook her head.  "Not really.  Just watch him because he likes to get into stuff.  And he'll probably want to eat everything in your fridge.  And, uh, I'm pretty sure he needs a nap."

Joshua threw his head back and laughed.  "Cat nap!"  

She chuckled and hugged him. "Thanks Big Fella."  

"No problem, Little Fella." He patted her on the back.  Max returned to the kitchen and stood in front of Alec.  He looked up at her stern expression.  

"I'm leaving you here with Joshua."  At his smile she scowled and pointed a threatening finger at him.  "Behave yourself."

"'Kay."

"No blurring inside."

"'Kay."

"No going outside."

"'Kay."

"No playing in the bathroom."

"'Kay."

"And stop saying 'Okay'!"

"'Kay."

"Ugh!"  She threw up her hands and left.  Alec giggled mischievously and went back to his lunch.  Joshua entered and sat down just as he finished off the last bite.  Alec sat back and let rip with a belch.  

Joshua chuckled and asked, "Good?"

Alec's face lit up with a satisfied smile.  He placed a hand on his stomach.  "Yeah.  The best."  Joshua blushed at the compliment – quite a feat for a dog-man.  Alec leaned forward.  "What are we gonna do now?"  

The big transhuman shrugged.  "What does Medium Fella want to do?"  

A mischievous glint sparked in Alec's eyes and his smile turned conspiratorial.  "We could go play outside…"

Joshua shook his head emphatically.  "Max said no."  Alec sighed dramatically, placing his elbows on the table and his chin in his hands.

"Well, I guess we could watch some cartoons."

"Joshua not have a television."

Alec's jaw dropped and he stared at his friend in disbelief.  "You. Don't. Have. A. TV?!"

"Nope."

"What do you do for fun?!"

Joshua shrugged again.  "Read.  Paint.  Think."

Alec's head fell to the table.  He groaned and slumped so far forward that he almost fell out of his chair.  "We're gonna die of boredom."  Joshua also rested his head on the table and tried to think of something that might occupy his friend.  After a few moments an idea occurred to him and he sat up excitedly.

"Father's piano still in the basement.  Alec could play songs.  Maybe teach Joshua too."  Alec turned his head to the side and looked at Joshua without sitting up.  The bridge of his nose dimpled as he pretended to think over the suggestion.  Suddenly, he stood and smiled broadly, clapping the other man on the back.

"That's a great idea Big Fella!"  At Alec's exclamation, Joshua sprang up and led the way toward the basement.  They trudged happily down the stairs, the old wood creaking under their weight. 

Joshua plopped down on the worn bench.  His smile faded when he looked expectantly up at Alec.  The younger transgenic stood beside the piano with an expression of sudden fear clouding his features.  From the distant look in Alec's eyes, Joshua could tell his friend was thinking about the dark days that followed the first time he sat down at a piano.  A complicated myriad of emotions that Joshua couldn't begin to name crossed Alec's face.  The X5 jumped a little when Joshua laid a strong but soothing hand on his arm.

"Play happy songs, Medium Fella," Joshua whispered gently.  "No tricks, just treats."  Alec took a deep breath and forced a brave smile onto his face.

"Okay, Josh.  Only happy songs."  He took a seat next to his friend and rested his fingers on the keys.  Over the next hour he set about teaching Joshua how to play the piano.  It became glaringly apparent that whatever Sandeman had originally intended to create when he made Joshua, 'concert pianist' wasn't it.  The big guy got better as they practiced, but Alec still had to consciously clamp down on his wincing reflexes each time Joshua's large fingers came down on the ivory keys.  In the end, Alec convinced Joshua that he should just sing as Alec played every simple song in his repertoire.  They made quite a merry racket, with Alec banging out the notes and belting the words at the top of his lungs to the accompaniment of Joshua's amazingly in-tune howls.  Neither of the transgenics always remembered the words, but they found great joy in making up lyrics as they went along, and most of the time they could remember the choruses.

"Goodness gracious great balls of fire!!!"  The two collapsed into laughter as the last note rang clear and Joshua's howls echoed off the basement walls.  Just as Alec caught his breath, a huge yawn took him unawares.

"Uh-oh," Joshua said and pointed at his friend.  "Alec need sleep."  

Alec immediately sat up straighter.  "No I don't.  I'm not tired at all."  He opened his eyes as wide as possible and leaned toward Joshua.  "See?  Wide awake!"   

Joshua wasn't buying any.  He stood and hauled Alec up, throwing the young man over his broad shoulder and making for the stairs.  "Max said cats must nap."  Alec didn't struggle.  He just whined in protest as Joshua carried him to the couch in the living room.

"But I'm not even tired!  Really.  I'm wide awake."  The bigger transgenic set him down on the couch.  "But I'll just lay here bored!"  

 "Alec sleep now."  Joshua started to turn away, but Alec grabbed his arm.

"Joshua?"

"Yes, Alec?"

"Will you at least read me a story.  Please."  Joshua practically glowed at the request.  He patted Alec on the head with one large hand.  

"Of course, Medium Fella."  The transhuman walked to the bookcase and selected from among the hundreds of titles while Alec snuggled himself down into the couch.  When Joshua returned it was with an old copy of _The Iliad_ and a blanket.  He settled the blanket over Alec, tucking him in.  Alec eyed the battered leather-bound book.  

"Does this book have pictures Josh?"

"No, but you can make the pictures in your head.  More like television that way."  

"Oh.  M'kay, I guess.  Well, what's it about?"  Joshua settled his large frame onto an adjacent armchair.  Alec sat up and continued before his friend could answer.  "Does it have fighting?"

"Yes, Alec.  Has very big battles, and big heroes, and even love."  Alec's eyes widened with excitement as Joshua spoke, although he did scrunch his nose in disgust at the mention of love.

"Now lay down Medium Fella so Joshua can get started."  Alec obeyed with a beaming smile on his face and closed his eyes as Joshua began.  As his friend had promised, vivid pictures played out against Alec's eyelids to the accompaniment of the dog-man's soothing voice.  And even though the pictures and story were exciting, Alec was soon carried off to sleep.

********

When Max returned in the early evening, she was greeted by the smell of paint and the thunderous beat of the stereo.  She entered the living room quietly.  Joshua stood in one corner, a large canvas set on the easel in front of him.  He was no doubt working on what promised to be a profound new painting – the meaning of which Max would never quite see or understand.  

Alec was kneeling on the floor, his own large canvas resting beside him.  In his painting, swirls of the brightest yellows, purples, and oranges linked and danced together around childish handwriting.  Alec had written _Alec Alec Alec Alec Max Max Max Max Josh Josh Josh Josh in a tight bundle at the center of the canvas.  'Max' was written in a bright red, 'Josh' in the deepest blue, and 'Alec' in blackish green.  There was paint all over Alec's hands, face & clothes.  He'd even managed to get some in his hair.  _

He bit his lower lip as he concentrated on his art.  There was a small part of Max that found Alec's appearance to be the most endearing thing she'd ever seen – blue, green and yellow highlights in brown hair and all.  An unexpected knot of delight coiled in her stomach.  Her brow furrowed as she tried to puzzle out the sensation.

Joshua glanced up to see her standing in the doorway and smiled.  "Hey Little Fella," he called.  "Wanna paint?"  

Alec lifted shining hazel eyes.  He nodded vigorously at her, happiness flowing off him in contagious waves.  "Yeah Maxie!  Come paint.  Josh showed me how.  Said I could paint anything I wanted.  It's lotsa fun!"  He matched Joshua's glowing smile with a grin of his own.

Joshua chimed in, "And Medium Fella taught Joshua to play _Chopstick_ on piano in basement."  

A pained expression briefly clouded Alec's features, but then he smiled again and said, "He's very good."  Joshua's smile widened at the praise and he barked.  Alec laughed.

Max was tempted to hunker down in Joshua's battered armchair and bask in the warmth of their smiles and laughter, but then her beeper went off.  Again.  She glanced at the number, an irritated frown replacing her smile.  Surprise.  It was Logan.  Again.

Joshua walked over to her and nodded at the beeper.  "Max gotta blaze?"

"Yeah."  She picked up Alec's jacket and gestured for him to take it.  "Come on."

Alec stood up and wiped his paint-covered hands on his already besmeared black t-shirt.  "Do I have to?"  He made puppy dog eyes at her as he put the jacket on.  "Josh still has to finish my story."  He glanced at his canine buddy in forlorn supplication, but the big guy just shrugged.

Max was outwardly unmoved.  "Now Alec."

He tried one more time, whining, "Maxie…"

She pointed to the door.  "Out Alec."  He pouted, but obeyed, flouncing down the hall and out the house.  Max turned back to Joshua with a wry smile on her face.  She hugged him before turning to follow Alec.

"Bye Little Fella."

"Bye Big Fella."  The door  shut behind her as she yelled, "Alec, if you get any of that damn paint on my baby, I will kill you!"  

Joshua chuckled and bent down to the floor.  He lifted Alec's painting and placed it on an empty easel.  Then he stepped back and stared at it, his head tilted to one side.  After a few moments of study, he smiled.  

"Huh.  Not bad."

TBD 

A/N: Thanks again to those who've stuck with me so far and sent feedback.  It's encouraging to know that I'm not alone in my demented amusement!  Special thanks go out to Waterlilly (Your comments echoed some of my own thoughts as to where I want to take the remainder of this story.  And a couple of your points gave me a fresh perspective on Alec's relationship to another character that we'll see unfold in the last few chapters.).  Only three more chapters to go, folks!  I'm hoping to finish it off by the end of the month.  Wish me luck!  ~Fli


	6. Old & Yucky

Chapter 6: Old & Yucky 

Alec pouted, whined and flounced his limbs about.  "But I don't like Logaaaaannn.  He's so stuffy and boring and he's rude to me.  Prolly has cooties.  Why do we have to go see him?  Can't we just go play?  Please Maxie?  Pleeeeaaaaseeee?"  

Max was trying to ignore him, which was kind of hard to do when he was tugging on her jacket sleeve.  Not to mention the way the elderly lady sharing the elevator with them kept staring.

Max grit her teeth and hissed loud enough for Alec's ears alone, "Rip my jacket and I'm gonna rip off your arm and beat you with it.  Now, shut up!"  Alec jerked his arm back to his side and eyed her warily.  She turned to the old woman and flashed her the most artful smile ever contrived.  It was a mixture of slight embarrassment, girlish innocence, nervous apology, and youthful glow.  

"He's just a little slow."  She shrugged her slender shoulders.

Alec's voice rose with childish indignation.  "I am not!  I'm faster'n you!  I get blurry better than anyone else I know!"

The woman nodded at Max in understanding as she offered Alec an indulgent smile and a gentle pat on the shoulder with one wrinkled hand.  "I'm sure you are, dear."

Alec beamed back at her with bright eyes and a big smile.  The white haired woman's heart melted on the spot.  Alec sniffed at the tiny hand still resting on his shoulder.  She brought her hand to her heart with a mild exclamation.  He leaned closer to her and sniffed again.  His smile widened with delight.  

"You don't smell bad at all."  He pointed at the oversized purse that hung from the small senior's shoulder.  "Do you have any candy in there?  'Cause I heard that old ladies are supposed to always have candy."

Max tried to step on his foot, but he saw it coming and managed to move out of the line of fire.  She settled for elbowing him in the ribs.

"Alec!" she hissed.

"Ow!  What?!"

Max's face was starting to hurt from the smile she was trying to keep steady, and the enamel on her teeth was practically grinding away.   The old lady caught on quick and waved a dismissive hand through the air. 

"Never you mind, dear," she said to Max.  "He's just curious.  And that's just fine.  My grandchildren are the same way.  And, as a matter of fact," she reached into her cavernous bag, "it just so happens that I do have some butterscotch with me."  

Alec snatched up the offered piece, immediately unwrapping it and popping it in his mouth before Max could say anything.  The old woman smiled indulgently at him and then turned to Max.  

"How about you, dear?  Would you like a sweet?"  

Max shrugged her shoulders and took a piece.  Food was food after all.  The elevator chimed, signaling its arrival at the woman's floor.  She toddled out and then turned to look at the two transgenics over her shoulder.  Her eyes were mere slits as she favored them with a gentle smile.

"Now, what do you say?"

As the elevator doors closed two voices muffled by butterscotch pieces chorused, "Thank you."

The remainder of the ride up to Logan's floor was silent except for the sound of content crunching.  Sucking on hard candies took more patience than either of the transgenics could muster.  

During their walk down the hall toward Logan's, Max stole glances out of the corner of her eye at the tall man-child striding beside her.  Max had to admit to herself that, given his mental/emotional transformation, Alec had been behaving pretty well for most of the day.  Then again, he'd spent most of his time with people he usually hung out with.  

But sharing the same space with Logan would be the real test.  Alec and her not-boyfriend had never quite gotten along.  Who knew how baby-Alec would respond to the older man.  A coil of anxiety unraveled in the pit of her stomach.  Max stopped in her tracks, halting the other X5 as well.

"Alec, could you do me a favor?"

 "Yes," he responded without hesitation.  Max was a little taken aback by the amount of trust that he kept putting in her.  

She cleared her throat and continued, "Be nice to Logan."

"I'm always nice."  Max folded her arms over her chest and gave him a look.  He met her eyes unflinchingly.  After a few moments, Max sighed and dropped her arms to her sides. 

"Just be nicer, okay?"

He nodded.  "Okay Maxie."  

They entered Logan's apartment and found him at his usual station in front of his computers.

Max gave her customary greeting.  "Hey."

Logan didn't turn around.  "I've been paging you for over an hour."  

Alec rolled his eyes at Logan's response, but remained quiet.  He walked over to a chair and plopped himself down.  He peeked at Max to make sure that she'd noticed his good behavior.  She gave him a slight nod of approval, and he smiled.  She turned her attention to Logan's back.

"I had to pick Alec up from the babysitter's."  

Logan swiveled around in his desk chair to face Max.  "I _really_ hope that wasn't some gentle euphemism for Alec's latest sexual conquest."

Max scrunched her face in disgust.  "Ew!  Logan that's disgusting!"

At the same time, Alec clapped his hands over his ears and began chanting, "I'm not listening!  I'm not listening!!"

Max raised her voice above the din.  "Alec!"  He lowered his hands immediately and looked up at her.  She continued in a softer tone, "Please stop yelling."

"Okay, Maxie."

Logan ignored their gently familiar exchange caught up as he was in what he was sure were his own uniquely acute powers of observation.  He squinted his eyes behind his glasses and studied Alec.  "What happened to your hair?"  Alec opened his mouth to answer, but Max cut him off.

"Long story.  What did you need?"

"Information retrieval."  Logan sat back and steepled his fingers together.  "I'm trying to run a background check on a scientist in whose developments I'm extremely interested, but I keep running into an incredibly hack-proof security system."  He sighed dramatically.  "It's insurmountable, even for me."  

Alec hid his face in his hands to keep Logan from seeing his eyes roll.  Max caught his movement out of the corner of her eye.  With an air of determination, she turned to face Logan squarely in an attempt to give him her full attention as he continued speaking.  

"Anyway, one of my informants has, uh," Logan paused and pushed his glasses up on his nose, "well, informed me that there is a hardcopy of the file.  Can you believe it?"  He chuckled.  "It's locked in a vault in a high-security building downtown.  I was hoping you could swoop in and pick it up."

Max nodded tersely.  "Fine. Will do.  Alec stays here."

"What?!"  A simultaneous shout from the guys, the word came to her ears in stereo surround sound. 

Max put her hands on her hips and directed her comments at Logan.  "In case you hadn't noticed, Alec isn't quite himself, and I can't do this job if I have to keep looking over my shoulder to watch him."

"Maxie, it's just a simple B&E," Alec protested.  "I won't get into trouble."  Max dismissed his declarations with a vague wave of her hand.  

"Quiet Alec.  The grown-ups are talking."  Alec crossed his arms over his chest and slumped down in his chair.  

Logan chuckled.  "He seems to be behaving normally to me."  Max fixed him with a harsh glare in response.  It reminded him of the looks she gave him whenever he said something off-color about Joshua.  He cleared his throat.  "Max, come on.  I really don't think it's necessary for him to stay here."

Max raised an eyebrow.  "Really?"  He must have missed the warning in her voice because he continued on with his explanation.

"Besides, I have some really complicated programs and sensitive Eyes Only work to do this evening.  Alec will just be a distraction."

"Huh.  That is so interesting.  Let me tell you what I had planned for tonight.  I was going to go home, have a long, hot, bubble bath, and then do absolutely nothing.  Unfortunately, because my life sucks, that's not gonna happen.  And since my life sucks, why should yours be any different?"

"Uh…"

"Is this information retrieval important to you?"

"Well, yes…"

"And do you want this retrieval to go down covert-like and without a hitch?"

"Of course I –"

"Then it looks like you're gonna have some company tonight.  Understand?"

Logan pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose before answering, "I think you've made yourself clear."

"Good."  Max turned her back to him and strode the few steps toward Alec.

"Maxie," the other transgenic whispered only loud enough for her ears.  "I really don't wanna stay here with Bogie Logie.  I wanna go with you and watch your back."

"Well you can't.  You're going to stay here and behave until I get back.  Got it?"  Alec stared at the tops of his shoes, his full bottom lip jutting out in a sullen pout.  Max raised his head with a hand beneath his chin and made him meet her eyes.  "Did you hear me, Alec?"

He let out a tremendous sigh, pout still in place, and responded with monumental reluctance, "Yes Maxie, I heard you."  At the sight of the dejected puppy dog look in Alec's normally playful eyes, Max caved a little.  She dropped her hand from his face and shrugged her shoulders.

"Look, if you're good, maybe I'll take you out for pizza and beer when I get back."

Alec looked at her with childlike scrutiny.  He tilted his head to the side, thrust out his jaw and narrowed his eyes.  "And ice cream too?"

Max laughed in spite of herself.  "Yeah sure, ice cream too."  The instant change that came over Alec was breathtaking.  To Max it seemed as if her whole world brightened with the power of that one smile from Alec.  It was as if nothing could ever go wrong if he'd just keep smiling that way.  Max reached up a hand and mussed his multi-colored locks.

"Alright kid, I'll be back in a little while."

Alec puffed out his chest and did his very best impression of Schwarzenegger, "'I'll be back.'  Maxie the Terminator!"  

Max suppressed the urge to smile, instead rolling her eyes.  With her keen peripheral vision, she caught the most disturbing look on Logan's face.  It made her stop mid-turn and just blink at him.  His eyes were smoldering with jealousy and resentment.  And there was something else, something hiding, barely checked beneath the surface.  Something Max couldn't name, but which set off primal warnings deep inside her.  

Though she didn't notice it, Max shifted until she faced Logan squarely with Alec shielded behind her body.  Once Logan's view of Alec was broken, the troubling look was replaced with the expression of pensive concern he usually shined her way.  He swiveled in his chair to face the computer panel once again.  

Max shook herself to resettle the hairs standing on the back of her neck.  _Maybe I imagined it._  She threw her thumb over her shoulder and said out loud,  "I'll be back for him after I'm done."

"Fine.  And Max, it's a federally operated building.  The security will be top notch so just…"

From the couch, Alec mimicked Logan with a singsong voice, "Be careful!"

A giggle escaped from Max before she could lock it down.  _Must be the sugar.  _She slapped an indifferent expression on her face as Logan turned around.  He looked shocked and dismayed.  Nothing out of the ordinary.  Max shrugged and said, "Don't encourage him."  With that, she walked out the door.

TBC 

**A/N:** Hey y'all.  The delay was only partially my fault this time!  Really!  My computer went fritzy and was down for weeks until I could get my techie pal over to check it out.  Couple that with my difficulty writing Logan without demonizing him, and you've got the ridiculous amount of time that's passed between updates.  Sorry!  Anyway, the next chapter is all about baby-Alec trapped in a penthouse with stuffy Logan.  It's going to be a bitch to write, I'm sure.  But, I hope it will come out the way I need it to.  Thanks for sticking with this story guys.  The reviews are worth every agonizing moment I have to spend with Logan. :)  Cheers! ~Fli


	7. Boys and Their Toys

** Chapter 7: Boys and Their Toys **   


The silence, thick as rubber cement, stretched between Alec and Logan in the wake of Max's departure. They stared at one another for a long moment – Logan squinting in consternation, Alec blinking in innocence – before Logan swiveled in his awesome desk chair and applied all his attention to his newest Eyes Only project. 

Alec rolled his only eyes at Logan's back. His thumbs twiddled as he gazed around the room. He wracked his brain for something, _anything_, that might provide him even a small amount of entertainment while he was stuck at boring old Logie's. He opened his mouth to tease the bespectacled man a little (always a good bit of fun), but then shut it with a snap when he remembered Max's order to behave himself and her promise of ice cream as a reward. The X5 managed to stay quiet for ten whole minutes – a miraculous feat for Alec even when he wasn't suffering from the effects of some kooky drug. 

"Logan?" 

"Alec." Predictably, Logan didn't even glance away from his computer screen. 

"Do you have any blank paper?" 

Logan waved distractedly to his right. "By the printer," was his response. 

Alec stood and walked to the printer where it sat on the desk next to Logan. He paused to look over Logan's shoulder at the program the older man was working on. 

"That's wrong, you know." 

Logan huffed and glanced at Alec over the rim of his glasses. "Excuse me?" 

"You have to give the variable a finite range," Alec continued. "Otherwise the program will just keep going around and around and around and around and never do anything." He pointed at the offending line of code, leaving a smudged fingerprint on the monitor's flat screen. Logan smacked his hand away and wiped vigorously at the greasy mark with the cuff of his shirt. 

"Do you mind? This is very sensitive equipment. And this is a very advanced program requiring intense concentration. Clearly you have no idea what you're talking about." 

"I do so!" 

Logan turned away from him. "Sure you do. Now, go play or whatever." 

Alec stuck his tongue out at Logan's back, swiped an unopened pack of printer paper, and marched back to his side of the room. He plopped down on the floor in front of his chair, ripped open the paper, and began his own little project. He worked diligently at the papers in his hands for the next half hour, occasionally mumbling under his breath comments along the lines of "stupid old ordinaries." 

Meanwhile, Logan wallowed in his frustration in dealing with the seemingly impossible computer program. Time and time again he tried to get the computer to follow his apparently impotent commands. 

He threw his hands toward the heavens and yelled, "Shit!" 

From behind him came a startled gasp. Logan pivoted his chair around to find the younger man sitting in the middle of a pre-historic world created entirely of complex origami figurines. Cavemen were stalked by T-Rexes and saber-cats. Brontosaurs ate from the branches of now-extinct trees. There was even a Pterodactyl perched mid-launch on the peak of what looked like a volcano. Alec stared at Logan with wide hazel eyes and one hand covering his opened mouth. 

"Ohhhh! You said a bad word! Wait until Max finds out!" 

Logan grumbled a half-hearted "Sorry," and continued to stare at the arts & crafts littering his floor. While Logan was distracted, Alec used his superior transgenic eyesight to focus in on the computer screen. 

"You really don't know what you're doing, do you?" At Logan's look of surprise and annoyance, Alec pointed at the computer and rushed on before Logan could interrupt him, "The function of 'x' should equal the sum of 'x' to the three-fifths and eight point three nine all over Pi to the seventh." 

His declaration was met by a blank stare from Logan, but Alec didn't notice. He cocked his head to the side, a lock of paint-highlighted hair falling across his brow, and bit his bottom lip, his attention still trained on the program. "Besides," Alec went on, "you have it looking inside your computer for the catalyst, instead of searching outside in other systems." He shook his head. "And that's just silly." 

Alec turned his eyes to Logan, who met his gaze with eyebrows raised above his glasses. Then Logan started to giggle, which turned into full-blown, body-doubling, hysterical laughter. Alec crossed his arms over his chest and glared at him with childish indignation. 

"Stop laughing at me!" Logan raised a placating hand and attempted to get himself under control. Alec raised his voice again. "I'm right!" That statement was met by a rude snort from Logan. 

"Sure you are. Why don't you go find something to eat?" The X5 looked at him with suspicion and mild offense at his attempt to distract and buy silence with food. "Really, Alec. I have some pre-Pulse cereals in the kitchen." 

The man-child tried not to come off as too eager when he jumped up. "Fine," he said, lifting his chin in mild defiance and placing his hands on his hips in a very Max-like stance. "But, I'm not leaving because I'm wrong. I'm right. I'm just hungry." He turned, carefully stepped over his creations, and left for the kitchen with his head held high. 

Logan pushed his glasses up and turned his attention back to the code on his computer screen. He shook his head and muttered, "Kids." 

A yell sounded out from the kitchen. "I heard that!" 

  


* * *

  


"Ow." 

The crunch of his forehead hitting the keyboard had woken Logan from his nap. It happened all the time. He sat up and lifted his glasses to rub at his eyes. Once his glasses were firmly back in place, he glanced at the screen. He was in the exact same place he'd been before he sent Alec off to the kitchen over an hour earlier. Absolutely no forward progress had been made and he wasn't any closer to getting his program to work. 

"Maybe I should take my own advice and get something to eat." He was talking to himself. It happened all the time. 

Logan backed away from his desk and walked toward the kitchen. On the way, he stopped to examine Alec's origami. He shook his head, a smug grin on his face. "The Dawn of Man didn't arrive until after dinosaurs were extinct." Content with this affirmation that Alec really didn't know anything about anything, Logan continued on his path. His confident, but noisy, electronic stride was brought up short when he arrived at his destination. 

The kitchen was a war zone. Every single cabinet and cupboard door was swung wide. All of the metal pots and pans appeared to be missing, along with several of the cooking utensils. The entire contents of the refrigerator had been emptied, from the freezer to the vegetable bin and everything in between. The majority of the food seemed to have been consumed – given the enormous pile of ripped wrappers, empty boxes and dirty dishes – but some had been picked up and strewn by the whirlwind of chaos as it swept through. 

Apparently, Alec had been conducting science experiments using the microwave. There was a still-bubbling and oozing mess that had exploded. Logan couldn't even begin to identify what went into its creation, but he could have sworn he saw egg shells stuck to one of the walls of the electronic box. Several bottles of expensive pre-pulse condiments had been used to create finger paintings on the countertops. Alec must have squeezed the plastic ketchup bottle a little bit too hard, because the red paste was splattered on one corner of the counter and over a good portion of the floor in Pollock-esque splotches. It looked like the transgenic had tried using his already gunk-splattered jacket to mop up some of the mess. His attempts had only succeeded in spreading it. 

Logan was speechless. Just thinking about the effort and time it was going to take to restore his kitchen to its former pristine glory was giving Logan a migraine. He put a hand to each temple, rubbing gently, and took a deep breath. He closed his eyes for a moment, hoping that when he opened them again he would be drooling on his keyboard, and this whole catastrophe would be a very, very bad dream. He opened one eye at a time, sighed, shoulders slumping, and left the room in search of the wayward hellion who'd created his waking nightmare. 

Upon stepping into the living room, Logan almost had a heart attack. All of his expensive leather furniture had been rearranged and overturned to create a formidable fort. The fort was decorated using his Egyptian cotton, 500-thread count sheets. Metal cooking utensils had been twisted and bent into a sturdy pole from which hung a black bed sheet neatly folded into a flag. Logan's collection of rare Russian figurines were posted as sentries along the top of the fort. The mystery of the missing pots and pans was solved by the existence of a miniature catapult that sat off to one corner. The machine looked functional, it just needed to be tested…using a vase from the Ming Dynasty that sat in the middle of a frying pan. Logan gasped and snatched up the antique, which had been in his family for five generations, and placed it gingerly on the floor. 

"Alec!" Logan stormed through the house looking for the transgenic. "Get in there and put my living room back the way you found it!" He searched the entire house. Every room had some evidence of Alec's passing: food wrappers created a trail of litter through the hallways, the sheets had been pulled from the mattresses in all the bedrooms, most of the books had been removed from their shelves and placed in piles around the library floor. Oddly enough, the bathrooms remained in their usual immaculate conditions. Logan looked everywhere, but Alec was nowhere to be found. 

Finally, Logan returned to his study and found Alec sitting in front of the computer, mustard-stained fingers flying over the keys. Logan's jaw worked up and down, but no sound emerged as he stood there staring at one of his worst nightmares. The shock sent fine tremors running though his body. His voice shook with them when at last he forced words past a throat tightened with rage. 

"What the hell are you doing!?" 

Alec smiled up at him. "I fixed it." 

Logan rushed to the desk, causing the desk chair to roll a couple of feet away as he shoved Alec aside. Alec giggled as the chair spun on its wheels. Logan stared wildly at the screen, gripping the sides of the monitor with white-knuckled hands. 

"You've changed everything!" 

"I know." Alec twirled around in the chair again, his smiled widening. "It'll work now." 

Logan typed various keys in an attempt to recover his lost data, but of course Alec had saved all the changes permanently to the hard drive. Logan couldn't even begin to figure out how to return his program to its former state. His face turned an unhealthy shade of purple as the realization hit him. He was out of his depth. 

He turned angry and accusing eyes on the young man still twirling in his chair. "You no good little lout! You've completely ruined everything!" 

Alec jumped up. "Just try it, you watermelon head!" 

"It's not even the right season for watermelon!" He stepped up into Alec's face. "And I don't need to try it. Anyone with as much expertise as I have would know at a glance that it's wrong." 

"Yeah, well people with your stupid expertise let the Pulse happen, so there!" 

Logan returned to the computer, shaking his head. "I can't understand why Max puts up with you." Without another thought, he deleted the entire program, determined to fix it later when Alec and his so-called help were gone. Satisfied, he turned to glare at the stunned transgenic. "She should have just let that bomb explode in your head." 

At those snarled words, Alec snatched the keyboard from beneath Logan's hands and hurled it across the room. It flew through space, taking out several cameras before embedding itself firmly in Logan's plasma screen television. 

Logan pushed at Alec and screeched, "You little fuck!" 

Alec aimed a kick at Logan's left leg with all the power of a full-grown, adult X5. Lucky for Logan's knee Alec's foot turned at the last second. Unfortunately for the rest of Logan's body the kick impacted squarely on a joint of the exoskeleton, smashing the metal and short-circuiting the entire contraption. Logan collapsed to the floor with a yelp, his legs jerking wildly amidst flying sparks and electronic screaming. 

Max chose that exact moment to return. The sight of Alec standing over the writhing form of her not-boyfriend, his hands clenching and unclenching, rage bubbling up from the deep green depths of his eyes, stopped her where she stood. She hesitated for a moment before running forward to jerk Alec back away from Logan. 

"What the hell is going on?" She knelt beside Logan, hovering but not touching. She looked up at Alec. His own rage melted away under her icy brown glare. "Answer me Alec! What did you do this time?" 

He shook his head in protest. "I didn't do anything." 

Max raised her eyebrows and threw her arms out, her gesture taking in Logan as well as the whole of the room. 

Alec bit his lower lip, his shoulders slumping in resignation. "Well, okay, I did do something." He actually looked repentant before he pointed a finger at Logan. "But, he started it!" 

She put up a hand to ward off his explanations. "I don't want to hear it, Alec." 

Alec continued his attempts to convince her. "I was trying to help and he started saying mean things and calling me bad names!" 

Logan huffed from the floor, where his legs were still twitching. Max looked down at him with utter concern, as if Alec had kicked a puppy instead of a grown man. Logan returned her look with eyes imploring and pathetic. "I think he shattered the wiring when he smashed the casing." 

Max stood in one fluid movement and closed the distance between herself and Alec. She jabbed at Alec's chest with one accusing finger. "How could you do this Alec? You know that Logan's not as fast as we are, not as strong as we are. How could you be this cruel. What's wrong with you?!" 

"But Max – " 

"You can't ever doing anything right, can you?!" 

That shut him up. A myriad of emotions chased each other across his face. In the end only one remained: absolute anguish. The look in his eyes made Max feel like _she'd_ just kicked a puppy. But the expression on his face was almost one of pleading. It reminded her of the way her brother had looked in the end. She watched, stunned, as unshed tears pooled in Alec's eyes. With a gasping sob, he turned and blurred toward the wall of windows in the living room. Glass shattered everywhere as he crashed through. 

A shocked cry was ripped from Max's throat. "Alec!" She ran to the windows in time to see him take off across the roof of another building, an escape route she'd once used. "Alec, wait!" She stood on the threshold between Logan's penthouse and the stormy outside and watched as a flash of lightening illuminated Alec's rapidly disappearing figure. Her hand gripped the window frame as warring emotions roared inside her. A jagged piece of glass nicked the palm of her hand, sending a single drop of red to splash unnoticed among the shards littering the floor. 

"Uh, a little help here?" Logan's nasal voice finally penetrated the fog surrounding Max. She turned her head slowly toward him. He was trying to pull himself up onto the desk chair, but his own weight and the constant twitching of his robotic legs kept pushing it out from under him. Max hesitated a moment before she walked over to hold the back of the chair so that it wouldn't roll away. Her shallow cut was already healing, but the blood on her palm left a tacky smear on the black leather. 

With Max steadying the chair Logan finally managed to settle himself in place. He mumbled half to himself, half to Max the whole time. "Couldn't he have used the door like a normal person? It's going to cost me hundreds to replace that glass again." He tried to hold his legs still with one arm as his hands worked to get the malfunctioning machine off him. "Not to mention the thousands it will take to replace my exo." Max remained silent during his rant. His legs spasmed uncontrollably. "Damn him! Selfish brat. Well, at least he's gone." Logan disconnected the exo's power source. The twitching ceased and he sat back with a sigh. "And good riddance. Even child-like he's vicious." 

Logan didn't notice Max's utter stillness or the distant look glazing over her eyes as she remembered her own childhood. Unwanted visions traipsed through her mind. She stood in formation among her sisters and brothers. Training, sparring, tracking. Learning control. Fighting, hunting, killing. Without regret. Without remorse. There was blood on her lip, in her mouth, and it wasn't her own. Guiltless. Innocent. Instinct. Freedom. 

Max gripped the back of the chair hard enough to reopen the wound on her hand. A stinging ache rippled through her arm, clearing away the haze of her memories and pushing them back to the darkness where she kept them locked. She realized that Logan was still talking and caught just the end of his sentence, "…probably end up just like his psychotic twin." 

She jerked away from him as if he'd slapped her. "What did you just say?" Her voice was a breathy whisper in her own ears. A fine trembling had started running through her limbs. Logan grunted, straightening before turning his gaze on her. His expression was gentle and sympathetic, but she saw the condescension in his blue eyes. 

"Max, I know you miss your brother, but, really, it's just as well that Manticore put him down before he hurt anyone else." 

_"Shut up."_ She thought she'd spoken aloud, but maybe she hadn't because Logan continued on as if he hadn't heard. With his words came more traitorous memories. 

"And Alec…well, it must be a genetic defect because I can already see the violent tendencies getting out of control." In her mind, Max was running with Ben, tearing the 'nomalie' apart with her siblings. Logan spoke again, "Maybe we'd all be safer without him around." 

Max clapped hands over her ears and screamed, "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" 

Logan held up both his hands in a gesture that managed to be both placating and defensive. His words held a thread of panic as he watched Max's hard-won control crack down the center. "Max, Max just calm down." 

Her brown eyes were wide and wild. "You don't know. You don't know!" There was a hysteria in her voice that he'd never heard before. She was looking at him, but she wasn't seeing him. She was seeing doctors with their tests, feeling red lasers burning into her eyes, suffocating as she tried to push back walls that shrank in on her while she screamed out her own name. Alec's words echoed in her mind, _"You wouldn't understand. You can't understand – you weren't there. You ran."_ And with a snap, clarity returned to her. She couldn't do it again. She couldn't abandon her unit. 

Logan was pleading with her, backpedaling to keep her away from what he thought was the edge of her sanity. "Max –" 

She cut him off. "You have no right to talk about him, about them – about any of it. You weren't there." She was distancing herself from him, moving slowly toward the door. 

"Max, I didn't mean anything." His spider-like fingers gripped the arms of his chair, powerless to stop her retreat. "Max, I'm sorry." 

She stared at him with brown eyes gone cool with indifference, renewed control wrapping around her like armor, and spoke with a voice devoid of emotion. "We don't want your pity," she said, and then turned and walked away. 

  


* * *

  


Alec moved blindly through the dark streets of Seattle. He was unaware of the autumn rain pouring down on him, making the paint in his hair flow in rainbow rivulets over his barcode and mix with the tears on his face. He blurred through barren streets and past sector checkpoints. He ran toward solace.   
  


**TBC**


	8. The Calm After the Storm

** Chapter 8: The Calm After the Storm **   


The wet asphalt glowed a dark gold under the street lamps of Seattle's night. The headlight from Max's roaring Ninja pushed through the rain-filled air like a battering ram. Her knuckles were white under her riding gloves from the choking grip she had on the handlebars. Her hair was soaked and clung to the back of her black leather jacket in long dark waves. The buildings were a blur as she sped past, but her eyes caught every movement and every minute detail down each side street and dark alley. 

The first stop on her search had been Alec's apartment. He wasn't there, and there wasn't any sign that he'd been there at all since that morning. The fact that none of Alec's belongings were missing had given Max some hope that he hadn't gone far. That is, until she realized that a crying child probably wouldn't have the presence of mind to go home and pack a bag before running away. The thought had sent her blurring back to her motorcycle. The cool armor of control that she had managed to reestablish just a short time ago at Logan's was cracking under the growing weight of her worry. 

Her next stop was Crash, their favorite hang out. Max practically tore the front door off its hinges in her haste to enter. She pushed through the throng of bodies that normally inhabited the popular bar on a Friday night, her eyes scanning the crowd more quickly than she could move through it. The pounding beat of the music matched her frantic pulse. The roiling cacophony of voices mirrored her own chaotic emotions. Max didn't really expect to find child-like Alec drowning his sorrows in a glass of Scotch, but she was desperate. 

She spotted Sketchy leaning over the pool table and made a beeline in that direction. He was just about to take what was sure to be a misguided shot when she reached out and snatched the cue from his hands. 

"Whoa Max!" 

"Shut up, Sketch. Have you seen Alec?" 

"No dude, he hasn't been here." The lanky slacker let loose with a low whistle as a particularly leggy blonde strutted by. His horny gaze followed her past. "Too bad too. The honeys are out in full force and I need a wingman." Max shoved the stick at him with a disgusted sigh. 

Original Cindy walked up carrying a pitcher of beer. "Yo girl. Glad you showed." She set the full pitcher down on a side table and looked around. "Where's the Baby Boo?" 

"I don't know!" The wail escaped Max before she could stop it. She bit her lip and clenched her fists in an attempt get control over her emotions. 

Cindy's eyes widened at her roommate's outburst. "You lost him?" 

Max shook her head frantically. "He ran, OC. He ran and its my fault. I have to find him." Without another word, she turned and headed for the exit, leaving a speechless OC and a dumbfounded Sketchy staring. People were just faceless obstacles to be moved as Max pushed her way back out. She burst through the door and into the rainy night. She jumped on her baby and revved the engine. 

The black Ninja peeled into traffic at maximum velocity under her. Squealing tires, blaring horns, and cursing drivers faded to the background as she sped down the street. Max was oblivious to it all. Her mind was assaulted with worst case scenarios. Alec wandering in the dark, scared and alone. Alec being chased through the streets by faceless men. Alec wounded and cornered at gunpoint by White's agents. Alec lying still in a pool of the reddest blood, dead beneath White's smiling hatred. These visions cycled over and over in her head, echoed by the thunderous skies above. 

Max screeched to a halt in front of Joshua's house. She ran into the house and was just about to call Alec's name when the sound of snoring stopped her. Joshua was sleeping on the large armchair in his living room. An opened book lay forgotten in his lap. Max stepped into the room, her shoulders slumping. The big guy would have been awake and comforting Alec if the X5 had been there. An easel stood in front of the arm chair holding Alec's painting. She stared at the colors interlocking Alec's name with her own and Joshua's, and her throat tightened. 

An especially loud snore brought her attention back to Joshua. Max started to reach out to him, but hesitated, shaking her head. She couldn't wake him up and add his helpless worry to her own. There just wasn't anything that the big guy could do that she wasn't already doing. He couldn't even use his acute sense of smell to track Alec because the rain would have washed away any trace of the transgenic's passing by now. Max looked at him and thought, _Why should we all be miserable?_ She turned away and left him to his peaceful dreams. 

Outside the run-down old house, Max sat on her bike and let the chill autumn storm pour down on her. She felt utterly lost and absolutely alone. She hadn't felt this alone since that first night so many years ago that she spent without her brothers and sisters. The fear that gripped her now was similar in its intensity to what she'd felt that night. Sometime in the last few months Alec had carved himself a permanent niche in her inner circle, in her life. Somehow he'd wedged himself into her heart and she hadn't even noticed. She doubted he even knew that he had. She simply couldn't imagine her days without his constant chatter, without their endless bickering, without knowing that he had her back no matter how bad things got. What if Alec had really run away, left the city, left her completely? How was it that that thought scared her more than the thought of Alec in White's clutches? The answer was simple. She could fight White; she could rescue Alec. She couldn't fight being alone; she couldn't rescue herself. 

Before she allowed herself to come to grips with that train of thought, a bolt of lightening streaked across the night sky, illuminating the Space Needle where it stood reaching for the thunderous heavens. In an instant, her key was in the ignition and the Ninja roared to life. She turned her baby and sped toward her last hope. 

  


* * *

  


Max arrived at the Space Needle in record time and sprinted up the stairs, taking two and three steps at a time. She kept her mind blank as she ran, concentrating on moving up and up. She couldn't afford to break down. Her sanity was holding on by the thinnest of threads. If she stopped to think about the possibility that Alec might not be at the top, that thread would snap. 

She cleared the final flight of stairs and entered the long-abandoned restaurant at the top of the Needle. Her mind flashed to the last time she'd run into this place searching for another transgenic. Without her meaning to, Max's eyes strayed to the steel beam where she'd handcuffed Ben. She imagined she could see him sitting there. She could even hear his voice. 

{"_What's the matter, Maxie? You afraid to remember?_"} 

Max closed her eyes and shook her head, trying to push the memory back and keep the ghosts at bay. When she opened her eyes again, the room was empty and silent once more. Turning her back resolutely, she strode toward the edge of the room. When she reached the shattered windows that led to the outside roof, she stood on the threshold and peered into the darkness. Her legs buckled and she would have collapsed in relief if she hadn't been gripping the window frame. There against one curving wall, under the weeping sky, sat Alec hugging his knees tightly to his chest, head bowed, face hidden. 

It took her a moment to get her legs to work before she could step out onto the roof and walk over to him. She was smiling. Her joy at finally finding him colored her voice with warmth when she called out to him. 

"Hey Alec, thought I'd find you here." 

"Go away." He spoke into his knees and the words came muffled. 

Max knelt beside him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Alec –" 

His head snapped up. "Leave me alone!" Beneath the light of the full moon, Max could see that the skin around his eyes was red and swollen, his long lashes clumped together with his tears. 

She pulled her hand back. The little lost boy before her reminded her of another lost soul she'd once known. One with imploring hazel eyes, a sweet smile, and a broken heart searching for peace. 

{"_We never should've left. Everything made sense there._"} 

The memories held her speechless – voiceless – for a few beats. She cleared her throat, but her words were still quiet when they came. "I can't leave you alone out here." 

"Why not? You don't really want me around anyway. Even when I'm good. Even when I try." Alec angrily scrubbed at his weeping eyes with the back of his hand. 

{"_I'm a good soldier._"} 

He sniffled loudly. "I try so hard not to be what you think…" 

{"_I try so hard._"} 

"Not to be Manticore. But it doesn't matter. You always blame me. For everything. Things that aren't even my fault." His eyes dropped to the ground and his voice lowered to a whisper. "And you love everybody but me. Why, Maxie?" 

{"_Why? What did we do wrong?_"} 

He raised his eyes to hers again. Max could only shake her head. She tried to find the right words, the phrase that might somehow soothe his broken innocence. Searched for something that might pull back the curtain of time, back to the beginning so that she could make it all better. But, she had no answer for him. She had no answer for either of them. 

"Why do you hate me?" Absolute stillness followed Alec's question. The thunder quieted and the skies themselves seemed to await the answer. 

Max took a shaky breath and reach out to him again. "Ben, I don't –" 

"I'm not Ben!!" The force of Alec's anguished cry threw Max back. The raw pain and accusation in his eyes made her heart stop and brought her firmly to the present. He continued on in barely a whisper, "You named me Alec. Remember?" 

"I remember, Alec --" her voice broke. She licked her lips. The raindrops at the corners of her mouth tasted of salt. Funny. It had stopped raining. She tried again, "He…Ben…is dead. But you – you're more alive than anyone else I've ever known. I don't hate you." Alec looked away. "Really, I don't. Alec, I want you around." She swallowed. "I need you around." 

"Then why? Why do you say those things to me then, if you don't hate me." Alec cocked his head to the side, his lip trembling as he tried to understand her. Max dropped her head, staring at her empty hands resting in her lap. When she spoke her words were so quiet only another transgenic could have heard them. 

"Because sometimes we say or do hurtful things to the ones we care about, the ones we know won't leave us. We know it's wrong, but we do it anyway." She shrugged. "I guess it's a human thing." 

Alec sniffed and glanced at his knees. "Human's suck." The simple conviction of his statement shocked a surprised laugh from Max. Startled, Alec lifted his head, sure that she was laughing at him. Max reached out a hand and gently cupped his cheek, wiping away his tears with a brush of her thumb. 

"But it's okay, Alec. It's okay to feel." 

New tears replaced the ones she'd just wiped away, and with a wordless cry Alec threw himself into her arms. Max held his shaking body just as tightly, brushing his bangs back. She turned her head slightly and murmured into his damp hair, "I can't lose you too, Alec. I won't." Max sat there, her shirt soaked through with rain and Alec's tears, his chest draped over her lap, her arms wrapped around him, and tried to rock their loneliness away. "I promise I won't lose you." 

  


* * *

  


Consciousness slowly flooded Alec's senses and spilled into the haze of his dreams. The distant call of sea gulls came to his ears. Sunlight beat down across his cheek signaling a new day. Never one to be easily pulled from the sleep he coveted, Alec buried his face in the softness beneath his head. Slender yet strong arms enveloped him. A few fingers of one delicate hand lay gently across the barcode at the base of his neck. Those fingers were so soft, so soothing. For the first time in his life, Alec felt safe and protected. He sighed deeply and the smell of Max's warm body covered him. 

That woke him up. He sat bolt upright, blinking rapidly as the sun pierced his eyes painfully. He suddenly realized that there was a jackhammer going off inside his head. He raised his hands to his temples and closed his eyes with a groan. 

He felt Max move beside him and every muscle in his body tensed. He just knew that Max wouldn't be happy waking up next to him. Hell, who wouldn't have been cranky after sleeping propped up against a cold metal wall for however long they'd been out there? Alec took a deep breath and braced himself for her fury. 

But instead of the angry outburst he was expecting, Max's voice was soft when she asked, "How are you feeling?" 

Her gentle question and the genuine concern in her voice left him bewildered. Then he remembered that saying about a gift horse's mouth and shrugged, giving her a small smile. "Okay," he said, "considering my head's pounding like you drove your Ninja over it a few hundred times." 

She reached up and brushed his bangs away from his forehead. Alec stilled beneath the oddly familiar gesture. Max let her hand fall before speaking again. "Dr. Shankar said that might be a side effect of the drug, along with mild memory loss. Both should be temporary." 

Alec grunted. "Well, that would explain why I have no idea about any drug…or how I got here." He opened his eyes as if to look around, but immediately winced and snapped them shut again. "Did she mention anything about my eyes burning like they'd been branded?" 

Max reached into the pocket of her jacket and pulled out a pair of sunglasses. She placed them gently on his face before speaking. 

"No." Her hands dropped away from his strong features as she continued, "I think that's just what happens when you cry yourself to sleep." Alec opened his eyes and stared at her from behind the dark lenses. Everything seemed to stop. Even with her hyper-sensitive hearing, Max couldn't tell whether he was breathing. But she might have sworn that she heard what he was thinking. 

_What the hell? Is she joking? Well, my eyes do feel a kinda swollen. But, I haven't cried since…What the fuck did that drug do to me?_

The two transgenics faced each other, a strained silence stretching out between them. Alec's mouth gaped and shut a few times, but no cock-sure statement found its way out. He looked like a suddenly landed trout. A suddenly landed trout that had pink cheeks and whose hair was sticking up in endearing tuffs all over his head. 

Max managed to keep her laughter to herself, but it spilled into her chocolate eyes, making them shine. Alec squinted at her in suspicion. The corners of her lips quirked up slightly. "You hungry?" 

"Starved," he answered without hesitation. He made himself ignore the awkward moment that had just passed. He was good at forgetting the things that were less than comfortable. He'd had a lot of practice. 

The woman sitting across from him tilted her head to the side and arched an eyebrow. "You think your head can handle a ride on the back of my baby?" 

"For food? Are you kidding?" Alec jumped to his feet as though the headache he'd been complaining about was miraculously cured. He held out a hand to Max. She took his offered help to her feet. It surprised them both. Together, they climbed through the window and headed for the stairs. 

Halfway there, Alec turned to her with a smile. "Hey, can I drive?" 

She looked at him like he'd lost his marbles. Again. "Uh, no." 

"Come on, Max! Lemme drive. I won't hurt your baby." 

"Whatever, Alec." She waved her hand in the air, dismissing his ridiculous request. 

"Maa-aax. Come on Maxie, please." She kept walking past him, ignoring his pleas. "Max, are you even listening to me? Maa-xie?" Alec reached out a hand and tugged on a lock of her long brown hair. He'd been thinking about doing just that for most of the time they'd been chatting on the roof. Her hair had dried in a mass of waves and lush curls that Alec had never seen before. He couldn't resist. 

She stopped mid-stride and turned to look at him. She slapped his hand away and was rewarded with Alec's usual cocky smile. Max scowled at him and muttered, "Maybe that damn drug hasn't worn off after all." Leaning in closer, she took hold of his shades and lifted. The moment Max met his mischievous hazel gaze, she could see the impish little boy she'd come to know so well giggling behind Alec's sparkling eyes. 

_Maybe he's been there all this time and I just never noticed,_ she thought to herself. _ I wonder if Alec even knows about him? _

Max dropped the sunglasses back down as Alec continued to grin at her. She rolled her eyes and flipped her hair. "I could still drive the Ninja over your head a few times, you know." 

Alec laughed as she walked away. "You are such a bitch." 

She smiled at him over her shoulder. "And don't you forget it."   
  


**~~FIN~~**

  
  


* * *

  
  


**A/N:** Thus ends Metamorphosis Part I. Thanks for sticking with it! I hope you enjoyed the read. This ends the cute, fluffy, cuddly part of our tour. Next will be fangs, angst, and blood. Okay, maybe not fangs…but definitely angst and blood. :) (Not sure if that warrants a smilie…) As always, a multitude of smoochies go out to those who have reviewed and those that will review in the future. Y'all rock my britches. 

On a side note, someone pointed out the smear of Max's blood on Logan's chair in Chapter 7 and wondered whether I'd be using that to kill off the old geezer. But, alas, I didn't even realize the repercussions of putting that line in there…I'd like to pretend that I'm the omniscient author, but it's just not true. I feel that I can get away with the oversight since in all those Season Two episodes Max touched many things in Logan's house that he then touched and she must have shed _at least one_ strand of that limp – uh, I mean, long hair that ended up on his clothes, and yet he never dropped dead. If Cameron & crew can do it, damn it so can I! Besides – unfortunately – I need Bogie Logie to play a crucial role in Part II. I'm sorry! (More sorry that you could possibly imagine…) 

~Fli 


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